Lundi Gras exists in a limbo in between Joe Cain Day and Fat Tuesday. Amateur revelers tend to use the oft- overlooked Monday as a day of rest before the debauchery of Fat Tuesday.

However, true connoisseurs of the art of misrule use Lundi Gras as an excuse to party into Fat Tuesday. For this year’s Lundi Gras, Soul Kitchen has a special treat for the Azalea City in the form of Big Gigantic.

This duo has developed a multitude of fans with their hybrid of live instrument and electronic elements. Lagniappe spoke with drummer Jeremy Salken on the same day that their latest album, “The Night Is Young,” hit the streets. With nocturnal party vibes flowing throughout each track, Salken could not wait to share the band’s new sounds with their local fans. Undoubtedly, this will be the perfect way to prep for the madness of Fat Tuesday.

SC: The album hits the street today, and you’re promoting with a national tour. Even before its release, it’s been getting a lot of positive attention from the critics. How does it feel to be getting out on the road with the new material?

JS: We’re really psyched, man. We’ve put a ton of time and effort into the new album, and we’re really psyched with the response that we’ve been getting from everybody. I can’t thank everybody enough for that. We’re really pumped to get out there and play it for everyone. We’ve been playing some of the tunes live, but we’ve kinda been messing with them so much for the album that a lot of them are completely different. So, we’re really pumped to get out there and rage with everybody.

SC: There are a lot of people out there like me. I’m familiar with the creation process for a traditional band. How does it work for an electronic act like Big Gigantic. Do you take notes at your live shows and try to replicate it?

JS: Yeah, for sure, man. That’s the whole vibe. With us, we’ll develop a tune on the road or wherever. We’ll play it out, and sometimes, we’ll play it at sound check and learn it, and we’ll run through it. Then, we’ll play it live and take note of how it went and how the crowd responded. We go over whether we should do this drop a little earlier or maybe we should drop a part out. Then, we tweak them and go back and try it again. A lot of these tunes are on the 15th revision before the album hits. In a lot of respects, it’s a lot like a traditional band, but at the same time, it has that DJ vibe with the way we move through the set.

SC: Speaking of vibes, I was listening to “The Night Is Young,” and the whole time that I’m listening to it, I had these mental images and these vibes of going out for the evening on the weekend. Some of the titles seem like they reflect that vibe. Is this something that you meant to incorporate into the album, or is it just me?

JS: No, that is definitely the vibe. We didn’t name it “The Night Is Young” for nothing. That’s definitely what we were aiming to do. It’s either to get people hyped for the night or have some kind of soundtrack for the night. It’s 100 percent that we want people to get that. That’s pretty much been our main purpose the whole time.

SC: You brought in Cherub for the title track. What was it like working with them on this one?

JS: It was great. Those guys are really good friends. We worked with them in the past, and we’ve been on a bunch of tracks of theirs. It’s great to finally have them on something of ours. We’re really excited about that one. We know people are going to love it.

SC: Another thing that I noticed about the new album is that you incorporated some dubstep overtones into the mix. What made you guys want to experiment with that with this album?

JS: We’re always trying to press our limits and check different stuff out. With this album, some people would say that it has dubstep overtones, and other people would say that it’s trap beats. There are like 50 different genres on the album, so you can see what we’ve been working on. We’re just looking at new styles of music and trying to emulate that and have fun with it and push people’s limits as far as what they’re willing to listen to. That’s something we’ve always done.

SC: I also had a blast from the past with you guys. You did a re-release of “Love Letters” that you did with Sabina Sciubba from Brazilian Girls. I haven’t heard that name in awhile. What made you guys want to re-release that one?

JS: It was something that was kinda a little bit different, obviously, but the style of music is something that we’re into. Brazilian Girls have been a huge inspiration for us over the years. So, it’s cool to get to work with them. I think that they’re going to start touring again. Hopefully, we’ll see more of them.

SC: You’ll be performing around the apex of Mardi Gras season. What do you have in store for the crowd with your live show?

JS: We’re psyched to be back in Mobile. When we were looking at the tour, that was one of the places that we were trying to get in on. We’ve always been at Hangout (Fest), pretty much every year that it’s been around. Y’all have always been so good to us. We have a new live show, and we have a new light rig that we got last year that I don’t think you guys have seen yet. We’ve got the whole new album, and it’s going to be a rowdy-ass time. I hope everybody doesn’t get too crazy at Mardi Gras and comes hang with us.

About The Author

With the exception of two years spent at Auburn University, Steve Centanni has spent his life in Mobile County while focusing on his two passions: music and the written word. As soon as he was issued his driver’s license, Centanni began to explore the local music scene in the early ‘90s.
He filled his weekend with visits classic local venues such as the Four Strong Winds Coffee House, Vincent Van Go-Go’s and Culture Shock, all of which welcomed those who had yet to reach 18. After high school, Centanni traded Mobile for Auburn to complete his B.A. in English with an emphasis on general writing.
While at Auburn, he had the honor of studying under the Pulitzer-winning poet Natasha Trethewey, who served as the nation’s Poet Laureate in 2012 and 2014. After receiving his diploma, Centanni quickly moved back to Mobile and completed the University of South Alabama’s graduate program with a M.Ed. Eventually, he was tapped by the nationally distributed Volume Entertainment Magazine to serve as the magazine’s managing editor/senior writer.
His time with Volume allowed him to exercise his love for both music and writing. As Volume began to fade, Lagniappe recruited Centanni as their Music Writer and later their Music Editor, where he has remained for a little over a decade.
As far as his involvement in the local music scene, Centanni organized Cess Fest at the Langan Park, which was a mini-festival focused on original local music in a time when original local music was veritably taboo in Downtown Mobile. For a short time, he brought original music to Downtown Mobile as the in-house promoter for the now deceased venue Cell Block. He managed local underground powerhouse Fry Cook, until the members parted ways. Centanni has lent his bass to bands such as Keychain Pistol and The F’n A-Holes, and he toured nationally as a member of Abstract Artimus & the Torture Children.
Currently, he provides vocals for the garage blues rock outfit Johnny No. Ultimately, Centanni’s experience in the local music scene as both a participant and an observer has allowed him to witness the ever-changing persona of Mobile’s enigmatic music scene, which continues to leave him with more questions than answers.